A New Dawn
by VampireMasterRaziel
Summary: Two years after the XMen defeated Apocalypse and Jean turned into the Phoenix, the XMen move out to recruit a new mutant
1. Introductions

**Disclaimer:** See my profile...

**A New Dawn** is my first serious piece of work. I have been having this idea more and more lately, just never the time to really go through with it.

As it is my first work, I would also like to implore you to forgive me any minor mistakes concerning places and people. Living in Switzerland, I'm afraid I don't know my way around America all too well, so bare with me ;-)

**A New Dawn** plays in the **_X-Men: Evolution_** universe. However, please be warned: many characters may be ooc, and the story most probably **will** contain strong language and violence.

As you have been warned, here a quick look at what awaits you:  
_Two years after the X-Men defeated Apocalypse and Jean turned into the Phoenix, the X-Men move out to recruit a new mutant_

* * *

**A New Dawn**

* * *

**Prologue**

_For countless years, humanity has sought to gain power. This power came in many shapes and forms, such as in technology._

_However, humanity has always been a xenophobic race._

_The unknown has always held a morbid fascination, yet also a frightening aspect for us._

_Our fantasy came up with stories of vampires, werewolfes, aliens and monsters in an attempt to escape its daily life._

_However, once the existence of mutants was confirmed, this fascination turned to fear, and fear turned to hate._

_Humanity has always been, and always will be, a xenophobic race…_

* * *

**Chapter I: Introductions**

Detroit, March 2005…

_My head is killing me…_, Sean thought warily as he got out of bed. He had been having massive headaches for the last few days, each one getting worse than the last.

Sean was a 19 year old teenager who went to college. He was just over 6 foot tall, weighed 160 pounds, had shoulder long, brown hair and matching eyes.  
He was a real Martial Arts freak, so to speak. He trained Judo, Ju-Jitsu and Karate, all in all 4 evenings per week.

Mostly he was a loner. He knew a lot of people, but barely had any friends. However, those he did have he was very protective of.

_Maybe I should just get a new head_, he thought with a wry grin. Right before the next ache slammed through his skull and everything went black…

* * *

_Where… am… I?_

Through a haze of mist, he could see a bright, white ceiling. Turning his head groggily to look to the side, he could make out a white wall and some strange machines…

_What… are… those for?_

Tracing the… cables? No, tubes… Tracing the tubes coming out of the machines, he found them hooked up to various parts of him.

_A hospital… I'm in a hospital…_

Who had brought him here? More importantly, WHY was he here? And why was the room getting darker…

* * *

The next time Sean woke up, the room was dark. Actually, scratch that: the room was pitch black. He could barely make out the machines next to him.

_At least my head doesn't hurt anymore…_, he thought. _Actually, come to think of it… I've never felt better!_

Sitting up, he plucked the tubes from his body, ignoring the flat line that the heart monitor next to him started emitting. He had just pulled the last one off and out when the door burst open and the light flashed on.

Blinded, he whirled around (as well as that was possible being on a bed) to face whoever had come in. After some furious blinking, he could make out a doctor standing in the doorway.

"Whoa there, take it easy!", the doc said, holding his hands up in an easy going manner. "Where am I?", Sean asked, a bit more forcefull than he had actually intended to.

"You're at the Detroit Medical Center, you were brought here after you collapsed at your home.", the doc said, trying to calm Sean down.

"The DMC? Collapsed?" A fuzzy image of the floor coming closer at rapid speed went through his head "Oh, right… I remember…"

Sean looked at the docs name tag, which read Sterling. "So doc, how long was I out for then?" The doc shifted, causing Sean to narrow his eyes. That wasn't a good sign…

"Two weeks." Make that a very bad sign.

"Two WEEKS?" "Ssssh, please, stay calm! There are sick people in the other rooms who need rest!"

Sean took a deep breath, then continued in a normal tone of voice: "And what exactly happened to me?" "Actually, that is what I was hoping YOU could tell us."

Sean arched an eyebrow. "YOU'RE the doc here, isn't it supposed to be your job tell ME?" "At least your sense of humour is back… unfortunately, we haven't got a clue as to what happened to you. Your parents brought you in after your collapse."

"Didn't you run any tests?", Sean asked unbelievingly. "Of course we did, but apart from the MRI we couldn't find anything unusual." "The MRI?" "Yes, although you were unconscious you were showing some very heavy brain activity. Speaking of which, I would like to do some tests immediately, if that is okay with you?"

And so it happened that Sean spent a good two hours of enduring various prods, courtesy of doctor Sterling.

"Hm… that's strange…", Sterling muttered under his breath.

"What is?", Sean asked. Sterling looked startled for a moment, before answering. "You have some very strange… anomalies in your bloodstream. Your blood cells are… wrong!"

Sean arched an eyebrow. "Wrong? What do you mean wrong?" "Normally, human blood cells are composed of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Your blood, however, seems to be missing the white blood cells completely!"

"What? But… I thought white blood cells were needed to fight diseases? How can I be missing them?" "I don't know… however, you also have a decreased heart rate… its so low that you actually shouldn't be awake, never mind moving around!"

Seans eyes widened at the implication. "So what are you saying, am I dead?", he asked sarcastically.

The doc rolled his eyes. "No, but technically, your existence is… impossible. I only know one possibility that would explain this right now…" "And that would be?"

The doc looked at Sean with a serious expression: "That you are a mutant."

* * *

**Aaaargh, first chapter and already a cliffie? I AM evil… grin**

So, hope you liked it, the next chapter should be up soon and I think I shall be putting all the infos about Seans mutation into that one.

But until then, you'll just have to wait ;-)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it enough to give me a review!

Like I said, this is my first proper story, and as such I would enjoy every and any piece of advice about my incompetence as an author ;-)


	2. Awakening

**Disclaimer:** See my profile...

* * *

**A new Dawn**

* * *

**Chapter II: Awakening**

* * *

_Seans eyes widened at the implication. "So what are you saying, am I dead?", he asked sarcastically._

_The doc rolled his eyes. "No, but technically, your existence is… impossible. I only know one possibility that would explain this right now…" "And that would be?"_

_The doc looked at Sean with a serious expression: "That you are a mutant."_

* * *

Sean layed back in his bed, staring at the ceiling. _A mutant? I wonder how…_, he thought.

It was common knowledge these days that mutants were simply the next stage of evolution and that they would replace Homo Sapiens as the dominant species on the planet.

Naturally, there were many humans who were against that idea, like the group of radicals who called themselves 'Friends of Humanity' (a lame name, as Sean thought).

However, there were many humans who had finally accepted mutants, such as Sterling, the doc. He wanted to run a few more tests on Sean to see just what his mutation actually was.

As the days progressed, Sterling got more and more frustrated with the test results. They kept coming back as a contradiction to the tests he just made the day before.

For example, Seans white blood cells had apparently not simply disappeared, they had become absorbed into the red blood cells. Just two days later, they reappeared in his blood stream, but they weren't white anymore. They had changed into black blood cells, but seemed to serve the same purpose as the white blood cells.

There were other changes in Seans physique as well. His teeth started to change as well, they became sharper and slightly rounded, as his canines grew to twice their usual length.

During the stay in the hospital Sean had practically lost all his baby fat. That however only served to show off the impressive muscles that seemed to be growing without him doing anything. He got the physique of a swimmer/runner.

As these changes progressed, it became more and more difficult for Sean and Sterling to keep his mutation under wraps. Although many people had finally accepted mutants, most still did not.

That included most people who worked/stayed at the DMC. If they would get even a sniff of Seans mutation, they would be on him like hounds.

Seans family and friends kept visiting, of course, but Sean kept his mutation even from them. His parents hated mutants with a passion, and that had been impressed upon his brother and sister.

He no longer grinned so he wouldn't show any teeth by mistake, he didn't eat, drink or talk much.

After a week however, a change occurred that changed everything.

Sean kept growing weaker, even though he was eating regularly. A blood test finally brought forth the reason why.

Seans metabolism had completely changed. And this change finally showed them what kind of mutation he had: he had become the closest living thing to a vampire.

"A VAMPIRE?", Sean shouted. After all, it WAS a little difficult to believe, even with the knowledge of different mutations out there.

"Yes… it seems that your metabolism has changed in such a fashion that you can't survive without drinking blood." "What… what do you mean?" "Your blood is what carries important stuff like oxygen, vitamins etc to your muscles. The food you are digesting is not sufficient anymore in doing so."

"So what, I have to suck blood now?", Sean asked with panic in his voice.

Sterling sighed. "It would seem so. I have made some progress lately about your mutation, let me explain:

"Your mutation is based on physical changes. I'm sure you have noticed your increase where your senses are concerned?"

Sean HAD noticed that. He could see much better than before. Actually, he could see perfectly. Whereas before he had needed glasses, now he could clearly distinguish between people at the hotel on the other side of the road.

His hearing had picked up dramatically as well. He could make out people walking outside of his room. Not only could he hear them, he could actually tell EXACTLY where they were.

Even his sense of smell had picked up. While his hearing told him where somebody was, his smell told him WHO it was.

This increase had been immensely helpful in hiding his abilities. Without them he would probably have been found out already.

Sean grunted. "Yeah, I noticed. Hard not to, really…"

"Exactly. This, your enhanced strength and, if I am not very wrong, your increased speed, are all part of your mutation. However, you need sustenance to keep your body moving. You can eat and drink normal food, but that doesn't nourish you.

"For that, you need blood."

Sean sank back onto the pillow, unable to believe what Sterling had told him. "I… I don't… understand… I…"

Sterling sighed again and then dropped a red packet onto the bedstand. _Medical blood?_, Sean thought with mounting unease.

"I know this is difficult for you, but… you have to drink. If you don't, you will grow weaker and weaker, until…" Sean looked at Sterling.

"Until what?" Sterling looked at Sean with the same expression like he did when he told him he was a mutant.

"Until you die."

* * *

_Later that night…_

Sean sat on his bed, his gaze on the bag of medical blood next to him. _What am I supposed to do? I don't want to die yet… but drink blood to survive? I don't know if I can do that…_

Slowly reaching out, he took the bag and set it onto his lap. _Then again, what do I have to loose? I'm a mutant… once that gets out, I'll have a lot of people out for my blood…_

He slowly pulled the bag closer to his mouth, his canines growing larger as he did so. _If it can help me survive… then I'll do it._

He had barely bitten the bag open when the first drop of blood hit his tongue. Suddenly his instincts took control, so fast and hard he couldn't do anything to stop it. He practically shredded the blood blag in his drinking frenzy until he had swallowed every last drop.

As suddenly as it had hit him, it was over. He looked at the bag in his hands, breathing heavily. _What was that? Is that going to happen every time I drink?_

All of a sudden, pain hit him. Pain of the likes he never knew before. It flooded him, stretched from his head to his toes and engulfed him like an unstoppable tidal wave. Unable to even utter a single word, blackness surrounded him once again.

The last thing he felt before he became unconscious was the feeling of something breaking free in him.

* * *

**Hah! Second chapter done!**

**Sean has finally awakened his latent powers. What will become of him?**

**In the next chapter he will have to choose his new destiny.**

**Anyway, hope you liked it!**


	3. Awakening II

**Disclaimer:** See my profile...

* * *

**A new Dawn**

* * *

**Chapter III: Awakening II**

* * *

_He had barely bitten the bag open when the first drop of blood hit his tongue. Suddenly his instincts took control, so fast and hard he couldn't do anything to stop it. He practically shredded the blood blag in his drinking frenzy until he had swallowed every last drop._

_As suddenly as it had hit him, it was over. He looked at the bag in his hands, breathing heavily. What was that? Is that going to happen every time I drink?_

All of a sudden, pain hit him. Pain of the likes he never knew before. It flooded him, stretched from his head to his toes and engulfed him like an unstoppable tidal wave. Unable to even utter a single word, blackness surrounded him once again.

_The last thing he felt before he became unconscious was the feeling of something breaking free in him._

* * *

…_**Mutant signature detected…**_

_**Analysing signal now…**_

_**Mutant identified…**_

_**Name: Sean Baxter**_

_**Age: 19 years**_

_**Mutant powers: Unknown**_

* * *

_Unknown?_

Unknown was not a word Charles Xavier used often. As the leading specialist in the mutant field, he often came up with answers to questions others couldn't answer.

But to have Cerebro not being able to identify a mutants powers…

_I must look into this immediately!_ Xavier connected to the super computer via the helmet. Seconds later, his psychic self was soaring from Bayville, NY, to Detroit.

What he saw there made him gasp. _Ororo, Logan, take the Blackbird and fly to Detroit, to the Detroit Medical Center! I need you to recruit a new mutant for me…_

* * *

"Wonder what had Chuck all wound up like that?", Logan mused as he fired up the afterburners of the Blackbird.

"I don't know, but it would be wise to hurry, Logan.", Ororo answered. "Yeah, you're right… I was just wondering." "I know how you feel. It is… unusual for Charles to be so emotional even when…"

_Ororo, Logan, can you hear me?_

"Yeah, we hear ya Chuck. Whats wrong?" _The new mutant that I located is in serious trouble. Apparently, the hospital staff found out about his mutation and is after him. They have cornered him on the hospital roof._

Logan gripped the controls tighter. "Those stinkin little…" "Please, Logan, not now. Charles, we are still a good fifteen minutes away from Detroit. Will we make it in time?"

_I don't know, Ororo… for the moment, it seems that he can keep them away… I don't know how long he will last, though!_ "Understood, professor. Logan, can we not…" "I'm already milkin this baby for all she's worth, 'Roro. We have to hope we'll make it in time."

* * *

_This SUCKS!_, was what Sean was thinking over and over again as he kept pressing aginst the stairway door in front of him. The croud that had gathered was hammering at the door with everything they had.

A particularly strong blow weakened his hold for a few seconds before he could reinforce it. _Damn it, I don't know how long I can last against this!_

"You look like you got some trouble there, handsome."

Sean whirled around, loosing his concentration on the door just enough for the croud to burst through. Cursing, Sean rolled away from the door, noting at the same moment that noone was around on the roof. _Someone was there though, I'm sure I didn't start hearing things!_

The croud came through the door and Sean ran over to the roofs ledge. One quick look down convinced him jumping was NOT the ideal solution. _I'm in deeeeep shit…_

Turning around, he came face to face with a shotgun just before a blast tore apart the right half of his head.

"**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!**"

The force of the shot threw him of the roof. That didn't even register, though. His only thoughts were on the pain. How he could think with half his head missing he didn't know, and more importantly he didn't WANT to know.

Suddenly, when he was halfway down the building, the pain stopped. His senses went mad and he felt like his body was transforming. Looking down (or up, depending on the point of view), he saw his legs and stomach had become mist.

It didn't stop at that, however. His whole body changed, transformed, becoming mist. It happened just in time, for when he would have just hit the floor, all that remained was the dense mist, which, after hitting the ground, started expanding, covering the whole emergency parking places for the ambulances.

_I don't know what just happened here… but I'm not complaining!_, Sean thought as he took in the strange situation. He seemed to be able to see out of the mist all at once, even what was happening IN the mist. _As if it isn't even here…_

Not knowing exactly how he KNEW how to, he changed back inside the mist, his body becoming solid once more. Hesitantly, he reached up to touch his face and breathed a sigh of relief (and disbelieve) as he felt the actually destroyed half of his head back where it was supposed to be.

_I guess the story about vampires being able to regenerate wasn't so overblown as I thought it was_, he thought with a grin.

Not wanting to waste any more time, he turned on his heel and ran away from the DMC, using his extended sight within the mist to guide him around any and all people in his way.

Breaking through into the sunlight, he kept running and put as big a distance between him and his pursuers as he could, finally taking a break after ten minutes of running when suddenly a thought hit him: _Oh shit… I hope Sterlings okay…_

Unease filled him as he thought of the doctor who had done so much to help him these last few weeks. _Goddamn it… I can't leave him without knowing he's okay!_

Turning around, he ran back full speed, noticing only then that he didn't seem tired in the least. _So, enhanced stamina as well, huh? At least it comes in handy now._

Pushing himself harder, he noticed he didn't seem to have a limit as to how fast he could go. What took him ten minutes before took him only two on his way back.

One large jump and he climbed up a small building block. Looking down, he realised the mist had vanished when he left. He immediately wished he hadn't.

Sterling was surrounded by the crowd that had attacked Sean before. He was being beaten by the angry mass and didn't look like he could take much more.

One quick thought and the same mist as before began seeping out of his sleeves. Sean narrowed his eyes: _Too slow, damn it…_

Concentrating, he willed the mist to not seep, but rather pour out of his sleeves and cover the DMC grounds once again.

As soon as he had sufficient camouflage, he transformed his body into mist and reappeared instantly in front of Sterling, catching him just as he went down. The croud around him had apparently lost interest in the doc as the mist had appeared, afraid of the mutant from before turning up again. _Goddamn assholes… they can mess up someone who is helpless, but as soon as they get into an unknown situation…_

Pushing those thoughts to the back of his mind (he could always pick up where he left later, after all), Sean surveyed his situation. _Shit, how the hell am I supposed to get Sterling out of here?_

One typical trait of his was that he practically never thought before he acted. He acted on instinct rather than intellect. _And right now it just came back to bite me in the ass!_

Suddenly his sharp hearing picked up something: it sounded like… a jet? A jet that was getting closer very quickly, so quickly in fact, that in a few seconds it was directly above him and seemed to be hovering.

The blast of air it caused parted the mist Sean had created, giving everyone present a view of the sleek black jet before it disappeared in the reinforced mist. However, due to Seans extended sense of sight, he could see into the jet perfectly clear. And what he saw made him sigh in relief.

He knew the two people inside: they belonged to the X-Men, a group of mutants who, two years prior, had managed to defeata mutant hellbent on eradicating humanity.

If they were here, then they may have found out about his existence… how, he didn't know, neither did he care. A door opened in the jet and a white haired woman with dark skin looked out.

She seemed to concentrate before surprise showed on her face. Sean didn't really have time to listen what she was yelling to Logan, but he caught something that sounded like "…can't dispel it…"

Quickly hauling Sterling over his shoulder, Sean squatted and jumped with all his might.

The woman who was standing in the jets doorway stumbled back in surprise when Sean landed in front of her, carrying an unconscious Sterling.

Quickly recovering her wits, the woman stood up and asked: "Sean Baxter?" "Yeah, who're you guys?" "Friends. My name is Ororo Munroe, this is Logan", she said nodding towards Logan.

"Right, then lets get the hell outta here! Sterling needs some medical attention!" One look from Ororo confirmed what he said and they were off.

* * *

**The third chapter! Seans powers have finally powered up to their maximum and he has met the X-Men.**

**So, hope you enjoyed the chapter and, as always, I WOULD enjoy a little review ;-)**


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